In Mormon discussion, John C discussed why it’s easy for men not to see the worst of the church’s sexism, and Sam Brunson analysed how Trump’s proposed tax reforms will likely affect Mormons. (I think it seems rather optimistic of him to assume that Trump will still be president and we’ll all still be alive when tax time rolls around again…), and MyrtleJoy discussed the role of emotions in decision-making:

Feelings matter. I pay attention to my feelings, and I examine them closely for nuggets of truth. I trust my feelings, because they have often led me to good things. Like my beloved spouse, and my delightful child.

Defenders Of The Faith: I beg of you, please stop saying “but men and women are different,” or “God is in charge of the church and doing things his way,” or “you just have to realize that the temple is all symbolic” in a tone that suggests you think these radical ideas have not occurred even once to the person raising the feminist critique. Because, surprise! I’ve actually heard assertions like these before. I’ve heard them a whole lot, in fact. I’ve heard them over the pulpit as well as in informal conversations for almost my whole life. Believe it or not, I’ve actually already read most of the talks that get quoted at me that are supposed to solve everything. Sometimes I feel that I’m being talked to as if I’d just come across an anti-Mormon pamphlet claiming that Mormon women are oppressed and had naively swallowed it whole, and I just need an enlightened Latter-day Saint who truly understands the gospel to clear up my misconceptions. But the reality is that I didn’t need to read even a single anti-Mormon pamphlet to notice the glaring reality that women don’t have equal opportunities in the church; I was actually asking questions about the disparity long before I knew what an anti-Mormon pamphlet even was (or, to challenge another assumption I sometimes encounter, before I went to college and was exposed to evil liberal professors who tried to brainwash me into becoming a feminist).

Maybe one of these days I’ll succeed in getting back to posting on Sundays! Yesterday I actually spent most of the day wrestling some unruly, proprietarily-formatted data into a relational database (with a little time off to catch Pokémons). Thanks for your patience!